Towering at 14 to 19 feet tall, giraffes are the world’s tallest land animals. Children and adults alike are fascinated by this iconic species — there is no other animal on Earth that resembles a giraffe with its elongated neck, stilt-like legs, and even enviable eyelashes! The length of their necks, faces, and tongues (up to 50 cm in length) allow them to select and eat the leaves off of bushes and trees. Eating up high allows for less food competition from other animals that forage below, which means overall less stress on the ecosystem. Their necks are also used as weapons by sparring males. And what looks like “horns” on a giraffe’s head are also used as weapons while fighting. They are called ossicones. These conical-shaped bones are covered in skin and hair (unlike other animal horns or antlers) and grow throughout the lifetime of a giraffe.
To cope with such long legs, giraffes have a special way of walking. Unlike most other animals, their front and back limbs walk in sync with their right side and left side. They can also run quite fast — up to 56 km/hr which is enough to outrun a lion! Drinking with such long legs and necks is quite challenging and they can fall victim to predators in this vulnerable position.
A giraffe’s pattern is immediately recognizable by its distinctiveness — just like how we would immediately recognize a tiger’s stripes. Reticulated giraffes are dark with white line patterns. Scientists identify individual giraffes by the patterns on their coats because each giraffe has its own unique pattern. There are nine subspecies of giraffes across Africa. Giraffes have roamed our planet for over a million years.
And so it may be hard to believe that these magnificent creatures are now facing what some are calling a “silent extinction” due to a lack of global awareness. In areas where they once roamed plenty, their numbers have been drastically and alarmingly reduced by about 80% in the last 15 years alone! In the northeast of Kenya, there were over 36 000 and today there are between 5000 and 7000. What is happening? Poaching, trophy hunting, and habitat encroachment are responsible for the demise of the giraffe population. Some trophy hunters kill giraffes simply for their tails as they are considered status symbols. Poverty coupled with habitat encroachment leads people to kill giraffes for food and for their coats to sell. The few scientists working on the ground trying to help giraffes believe that educating and involving the local communities could help to save some of the remaining giraffes. Tactics such as naming giraffes after community members has helped to make them feel involved and become stewards of giraffes.
One incredible individual who has spent her entire life researching the giraffes that she loves is biologist Dr. Anne Innis Dagg. Dr. Dagg is to giraffes what Jane Goodall is to chimps. A pioneer in her field — and being a woman — she faced many challenges throughout her career while venturing to Africa on her own as a young woman. Now with years of invaluable research collected and respect earned, a feature-length documentary has been filmed about the life of Dr. Dagg called The Woman Who Loves Giraffes. This important film also brings much-needed attention to the silent extinction.
Dr. Dagg continues to inspire others to collect further research on wild giraffes in Africa. For example, giraffes are considered to be more or less mute, however some scientists now suspect that giraffes may be communicating out of our hearing range. Recent research on giraffe behaviour has also revealed more about community and social bonds between giraffes. It has been observed that mothers share “babysitting” responsibilities for each other and even allow suckling. A field researcher also discovered an incredibly strong bond of a mother giraffe that was grieving her dead calf. The mother did not leave her deceased calf for five whole days — not even to eat. She stayed by its side. Continuing research and sharing observations like these could lead more people to care about these gentle giants and take action to save them. Let’s break the silence on this silent extinction and sound the alarm! Together, let’s protect our giraffes — now.
To take immediate action to help giraffes, please visit: https://thewomanwholovesgiraffes.com/take-action/
Sources:
https://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/episodes/giraffes-the-forgotten-giants
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/g/giraffe/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ossicone
https://africageographic.com/blog/7-facts-giraffe/?mc_cid=e42d6b8762&mc_eid=6fa719f40a